I just transfered my gear from my old vest to the new one tonight (and have 2/3 of the pockets still empty). I momentarily considered tossing the old vest, looking at it empty and stained, with a zipper that doesn't work now, a bit frayed on the edges. Kind of like me.

Then I thought about all the time fishing with it, going back to the mid '70s. I remembered wearing it while I fished with my dad at our weekend lake place, and I remembered wearing it while canoeing with a close friend and tossing streamers in gin-clear Florida spring water. I remembered the Christmas my folks gave me that old vest. I remembered coming home from college, grabbing the vest and my fly rod, and spending a few days off by myself fishing, trying to clear my head of Georgia Tech and electromagnetics and thermodynamics and student loans.

I picked it up, put it on a clothes hanger, and placed it back in the den closet where I keep all my outdoor stuff.

Well, I think the best solution would be a caddy to carry along all the flies and other gear, as well as 3 or 4 rods rigged and ready to go. But until I can afford that, I guess I'll make do with a vest.

After my wife bought me a fishpond brand vest i never touched my old one ever again. The newer vests breath better, hold more gear and are so much better designed than the old style i used for so many years.